The Sun-Herald

Landmarks: Aural history

What's the most significant moment in the history of popular music in Australia? You probably said it was Missy Higgins trying to squeeze a triangle through a circle, but you were wrong. It was, in fact, when George Young bumped into Harry Vanda at the Villawood migrant hostel in 1964.

That was the consensus of the "Australian rock experts" consulted by Australian Musician magazine when it was researching "The 50 Most Significant Moments in Australian Pop and Rock History" for its 50th edition (out next week in musical instrument stores and online at www.australianmusician.com.au).

According to the magazine's editor, Greg Phillips, if Young had not met Vanda, "there would not have been an Easybeats as we know them, possibly no Stevie Wright solo career, certainly not the Albert productions that made AC/DC such a huge success, and none of the classic Countdown songs by artists such as John Paul Young, William Shakespeare and Cheetah ..."

Looking at the top 10, you can't help thinking the expert panel's members must all have been well over 40 (although we're assured it did not include Molly Meldrum).

The other most significant moments were: 2. Countdown begins in colour; 3. Men at Work simultaneously No. 1 in US and Britain with Down Under; 4. The Saints' I'm Stranded named record of the week in UK Sounds; 5. Midnight Oil's Olympic Games "Sorry" protest; 6. Six songs banned from Skyhooks' album Livin' in the '70s; 7. US entrepreneur Lee Gordon brings rock'n'roll to Australia; 8. Mushroom Records begins; 9. Silverchair's fifth album in a row goes to No.1; 10. The Big Day Out goes national.

If you have other ideas, maybe from after 1990, tell us here and we'll pass them on to Australian Musician.

We welcome your comments

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). His latest book is Soffritto -- A delicious Ligurian memoir. To join a daily discussion of Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.